It may be of interest for various applications to know the position of an object. Such applications include, for example, so-called indoor localization systems, which may localize a radio transmitter, e.g. on the basis of so-called radio fingerprints. Another field of application of increasing interest is the field of logistics, it being possible to use position finding systems to determine positions of goods to be logistically tracked. In the field of logistics, objects are often provided with so-called RFID (radio frequency identification) responders. By utilizing a reader comprising several reader antennas, it will then be possible, for example, to determine the position of an object to be localized. Another field wherein position finding systems may be employed is the field of localizing, or tracking, athletes and/or sports equipment, e.g. in soccer. Tracking of the athletes and the sports equipment (e.g. ball) enables determining statistics about the progress of a match, which may be very interesting for spectators.
A system which may track objects in real time with high accuracy will be referred to as a so-called real-time location (localization) system (RTLS) below, which enables interfering in or observing a process that is being tracked.
Known position finding systems such as GPS (global positioning system) or GALILEO, which is currently being installed, are not sufficiently accurate, or cannot be utilized at all, for specific applications, such as within buildings. Therefore, a real-time localization system uses an infrastructure of its own, which may be configured accordingly. This applies, in particular, to mobile localization systems, which may be employed in various locations, e.g. for sports events.
If localization systems based on wireless technology are employed, knowledge of one or more transmitting and/or receiving elements such as antennas, for example, may be used for position determination. In particular for mobile systems, which are installed at different locations with different infrastructures, as precise as possible a determination of the location, i.e. of a position and orientation, of the transmitting and/or receiving elements is useful for installation of the system.
While various technologies underlying the position finding systems are currently examined per se for their suitability for position determination, the subject of initialization, i.e. the determination of the position and orientation of localization antennas, of such position finding systems is hardly being addressed. To determine the location of a localization antenna of a position finding system, use is mostly made of manual methods such as laser calibration, for example. However, such manual methods of determining the locations of transmitting and/or receiving elements involve a lot of effort and are expensive in most cases.